DIY Alaia – Wooden Surfboard Build

A few weeks ago, I had some time off for the first time in a few months. By 10am, I was already bored and itching for a new project. By 10:30, I was in the dumpster scrounging around for lumber. What follows is my attempt at a DIY alaia surfboard.

An Alaia is a thin, finless traditional Hawaiian surfboard. Because it’s not hollow, and it doesn’t have fins, I thought that this would be a good candidate for a DIY build. Below the video are the materials/tools I used and the overall steps I took.

There you have it. I hope this tutorial was at either entertaining or useful (or both).

Also, please note that I am not a very experienced woodworker. If you’ve got tips for how to improve this DIY alaia, or if you’ve got projects that you’re working on, please let me know in the comments.